In the office-equipment context, such as including copiers and printers, it is generally well known to provide, with each machine, a plurality of selectable trays, each having an identifiable type of print media therein. Different types of media may typically include papers of different sizes or colors, or transparency media. With specific users, however, there may be very specific types of media, such as different types of letterhead or other user-specific forms.
In situations where a plurality of copiers and printers are in communication with various computers through a network, a user originating a print job at a computer will wish to locate a machine having a correct type of media on which to print. Where the selection of available types of media is wide, such as including specific types of letterhead, a user at a computer will wish to have this very specific information about the media in each tray of many machines displayed to him in detail.
In the prior art, the fact that machines may be widely distributed geographically, with various machines being under the control of local key operators (who are responsible for maintaining supplies in each tray), creates a danger that a description of the media that is displayed to the user may become incorrect. U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,222 B1, mentioned above, discloses one method by which media information may be entered into each of a population of machines through a local user interface associated with each machine.
The present disclosure relates to a system for ensuring that correct or usual types of media are loaded into each of a population of printers and copiers, and also for accumulating and analyzing data about the media contents in each tray of each of a population of printers.